The following was written by my wife, Mrs. Craig. She was kind enough to share her take on our current lifestyle. We changed things up in our household a couple of years ago…I’ll let my wife tell the story.

The last time I wrote a story for this site was almost 3 years ago. Much has happened since then! I wrote a narrative about my decision to take a leave of absence from my job, as a school counselor, to stay home and raise my 1 and half year old son and 8 yr old daughter.

Life as a Stay-at-Home Mom

Occupy Wall Street has become something so un-American yet American all at the same time. Mass demonstrations happen frequently in countries around the world but here in America, not so much.

In America we protest on talk shows, twitter, facebook, and for those “radicals”, letter writing campaigns and maybe a demonstration with a dozen others in front of an abortion clinic or government building.

But 20,000 people with tents and kitchens camped out in a public park in front of the world’s financial capital?

While I was in my senior year of High School I was required to take economics. In this class as part of our curriculum we did two interesting things:

1) We split into teams and competed against each other in computer simulations based on business. We had to figure out the price as well as budget for R&D, advertising, etc… It was a little like the old Lemonade Stand game (which I mastered in elementary school), if you remember that, but obviously more complex. We then wrote a collective group paper detailing what worked for our group and why based on economic principles.

2) We also had our own class-based business for the term. Our class product was little graduation stuffed animals (it was our senior year after all). We all invested a small amount and put the product together and sold it to classmates and family. Continue Reading

If you normally stop by Free From Broke to read about different aspects of personal finance, well I’m not going to talk about that here. Let me apologize in advance. Feel free to move on to another site if you don’t want to hear about 9/11. Really, I don’t mind. (just come back tomorrow)

Ten years ago we had an attack on our way of living that changed our lives forever. I know mine was changed. How? I can’t say entirely. After ten years I still can’t pinpoint everything I feel about that fateful day. I’m just going to write out some things in my head I’ve thought about. Bear with me.Continue Reading

Life can be full of financial changes that you must adapt to. One of the best ways to make the transition smoother is to try out your new lifestyle before you actually live it. Take, for example, the stories of two women, Jessica and Maureen.Continue Reading

The most common reason people change their names outside of being in Witness Protection is a bride after her wedding. Taking on your husband’s last name is traditional of a bride, and what many girls have been dreaming of possibly since their first date with the man of their dreams. Changing your last name is much more than scribbling it on your notebook; there’s actually a lot of work that goes into it. You have to make sure to change your name after marriage on important accounts and documents.Continue Reading

We are a nation of junk collectors. Look around your house. Do you see any clutter? Are there things you own that you know you shouldn’t have purchased? Are there items you purchased but have never used? Look in the closet. Are there any clothes with the price tag still on them? Any non-perishable food you bought that you decided you just don’t want to eat? Any expired food?

Disclaimer

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